Weighing-scale.



.No@ 716,544. Patented Dec. 23, I902.

G. HDEPNER.

WEIGHING SCALE.

(Application filed June 13, 1 901.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet m: warm PETERS co, PHOTO-UTHO., WASHINGTON, 0:2V

Patented Dec. 23, I902.

No. 7l6,544.

G. HOEPNEB.

WEIGHING SCALE.

(Application filed June 13, 1901.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 (No Model.)

wi/wwo e/s,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE HOEPNER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO UNION SCALEAND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFOR- NIA, A CORPORATIONOF CALIFORNIA.

WEIGHING-SCALE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 71 6,544, datedDecember 23, 1 902.

Application filed June 13,1901. Serial No. 64,456. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE HOEPNER, a citizen of the United States,residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and 5 State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inWeighing- Scales, of which the following is a'specification.

My invention relates to weighing-scales.

IO It is particularly adapted to be used as an attachment to automaticweighing-machines, although its use is not confined to that class ofapparatus.

When the main scale-beam of an automatic weighing-machine has a peacalculated or adjusted to counterbalance a certain weight of material,no quantity less than such determined quantity can actuate thescale-beam or operate any other mechanism, such as a discharging gate orvalve. The accuracy of the weighing devices depends upon this being thecase. Therefore after stopping the machine-for instance, to run anotherkind of material through it-an unweighed residue usually remains in theweighing device, which might be only slightly less than the determinedquantity referred to. This can be discharged to clear out the machine;but it is not weighed, and hence may remain unaccounted for.

An object of my invention is to weigh this residue accurately andspeedily.

Other objects and purposes of my invention will be more fullyhereinafter set forth, and

the entire invention is fully hereinafter de scribed.

I have selected an automatic weighing-machtne as the basis for anembodiment of my invention, and in the accompanying drawings I haveillustrated such parts of such a machineas are required for anunderstanding of my device.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of part of an automaticweighing mechanism,

the main scale-beam, and the devices which illustrate my invention. Fig.2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan of the plate suspended fromthe auxiliary scale-beam. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the partsillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

- A brief reference to the construction of the automaticweighing-machine which has been selected as a favorable illustration ofthe operation and advantages of my invention will be sufficient aspreliminary to the description of the invention itself.

The material to be weighed-such as grain, coffee, sugar,fiour,cereals,&c.is discharged from the hopper A into theweighing-bucket B. This bucket is supported so as to be capable oflimited vertical movement. Pivoted to both sides of the bucket and inthe lug a of the machine-frame and on knife-edges b b is a yoke C,carrying the main scale-beam E, from the free end of which is suspendedthe pea F. The weight of this pea is calculated with respect to theleverage of the scale-beam and the quantity to be automatically weighedin the bucket and delivered from it--that is, for example, a peaweighing ten pounds might counterbalance one hundred pounds of grain orother material in the bucket. WVhen the quantity has been delivered tothe bucket, it descends, and its descent actuates suitable mechanismwhich opens a valve or gate in its bottom and permits the discharge ofthe said one hundred pounds of material. This operation proceedsautomatically and continuously as long as material is supplied to thehopper A. WVhen the machine has been stopped or previous to weighing anddelivering another material, there is usually an unweighed residue ofless than one hundred pounds left in the weighing-bucket. In thesupposed instance this might be any quantity insufficient to balance thescale-beam between one pound and one hundred pounds, and there is noconvenient way of accurately determining the amount. If the pea F weresectional, an approximate result could be reached by removing sectionsuntil the bucket discharged and then making a calculation; but if theweight of any section counterbalances ten times by weight in the bucketit is clear that any result reached will be far from accurate, 5 sincethe discharge, except by improbable accident, will always be in excessof what the pea indicates. This is sufficient to render such a methodimpracticable, even if the inconvenience, difliculty, and waste of timebe I00 ignored. The attachment illustrated in the drawings willdetermine the weight of the residue accurately and immediately andwithout calculation.

Secured to the supporting structure of the weighing-machine is a frameG, having a projecting arm I-I,which extends outwardly above the mainscale-beam. A-bracket I is secured to the arm H, having holes to receivethe knifeedged pivots h of the auxiliary scale-beam J. This beam formspart of a frame K in order to secure a wide bearing by spacing thepivots hsomedistanceapart. Nearthepivotalpoints of the frame K are otherknife-edged bearings L, from which are suspended the hangers M M, thelatter being held together and on their supporting-bearings by a tie-rodon. Their lower ends are threaded, so that the open plate N can beadjustably secured by nuts, as n. This plate lies directly beneath thepea F of the main scale-beam and is open to permit the hanger of thatpea to pass through when the plate and pea are in contact, Fig. 4. Theauxiliary beam is graduated in any suitable way to represent ounces,pounds, or other standards of measurement, according to the size andcapacity of the weighing-machine, and is provided with an adjustable peaP. The weight ofthe latter exerted through the leverage afforded by theauxiliarybeam is in the same ratio as the weight of the main pea. Athreaded'rod 0 extends from the beam J and carries an adjustablecounterweight R, which is used to overbalance the pea P at the neutralpointviz.,at the graduationnearestthepivot. In the normal operation ofthe weighing-machine the pea P is at the said neutral point and isoverbalanced to the dotted position of Fig. 1, lowering the plate N tothe dotted position in the same figure. This whole auxiliary device isnow out of action and remains so until intentionally brought intoeffective position, as will now be explained. Supposing, as before, thatthe weighing-bucket automatically weighs and delivers one hundred poundsof material and that the auxiliary beam is graduated to one hundredpounds, as shown, then the one-hundred graduation is the neutral pointreferred to. After stopping the weighing-machine the unweighed residueis determined by simply sliding the pea out upon the auxiliary beamuntil the main scale-beam balances and the bucket discharges, leavingthe quantity discharged indicated upon the auxiliary beam. As the pea ismoved from the neutral point the plateN first comes into contact andthen commences to exert a lifting pressure upon the main pea, and thislifting action increases directly as the auxiliary pea is moved. Theeffect is, practically, to reduce the weight .of the pea F by the amountof upward pressure exerted beneath it. It is preferable to have theauxiliary beam record the actual weight of the residue on a singlescale, as it does in the drawings,

since there is less liability of error in taking off amounts and nosubtraction is required. According to the drawings there are, say,thirty-five pounds left in the weighing-bucket, and the pea hasconsequently been moved a distance equivalent to a reduction in theweight of the main pea of 6.5 pounds, equaling sixty-five pounds in theweighing-bucket. This leaves the main pea weighing 3.5 pounds, and hencethe thirty-five pounds in the bucket can operate the main scale-beam anddischarge itself, leaving a record of its weight on the auxiliary beam.

The use of the auxiliary scale-beam and its pea is not limited to anautomatic weighingmachine. For instance, it can be used in testing theweight of peas and also various weights, so as to determine theiraccuracy for platform-scales and all other kinds of weighingmachines.Taking a platform-scale, for instance, if a standard known weight beplaced upon the platform and an unfinished heavy pea be hung on thescale-beam it is easy to ascertain exactly how much must be taken offthe pea to bring it to its proper weight and ratio by employing myauxiliary scale-beam and reducing the weight of the pea in the mannerpreviously described until the scale-beam balances, the auxiliary scaleindicating the excess.

I do not limit myself to details of construction herein described, andshown in the drawings, as I desire to avail myself of such modificationsand equivalents as fall properly within the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination withaweighing-machine, and with its scale-beam andpea, a frame secured to a fixed part of the machine, an auxiliaryscale-beam pivoted in said frame, hangers suspended from said auxiliaryscale-beam, and a plate carried by and adjustable upon said hangersbeneath the main pea of the weighing-machine.

2. In combination withaweighing-machine, and with its scale-beam andpea, a frame secured to a fixed part of the machine, an auxiliaryscale-beam pivoted in said frame, an adjustable pea and an adjustablecounterweight mounted upon the auxiliary beam on opposite sides of itspivotal point, hangers suspended from said auxiliary scale-beam, and aplate carried by said hangers beneath the main pea of theweighing-machine.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in presence of twowitnesses, this 30th day of April, 1901.

GEORGE HOEPNER. Witnesses:

PERCY J. DE LASAUX, L. W. SEELY.

